Production is running again
Following a cyber attack on the IT systems of Hawa Sliding Solutions AG at the end of April 2023, the Swiss sliding hardware manufacturer has been able to deliver again since May 22. In the meantime, the company has rebuilt its IT infrastructure to a higher security level and fully inventoried its goods at the two plants in Mettmenstetten and Sirnach. In the week starting June 5, production restarted after a five-week interruption. However, the work to return to the usual performance capacities will still take the necessary time.
“The thorough review, cleanup and recovery of the systems involved a lot of effort,” explains Gianni Belotti, Manager Business Applications. But the effort was worth it, he said, to minimize the risk of another attack. In the meantime, Hawa is able to supply its distribution center in Germany again; the entire standard product range is available. Only selected products are expected to have longer delivery times until July.
Customer service, which was available to Hawa partners at all times, is currently reviewing each order individually and discussing delivery and pickup times with customers on an individual basis. Orders that could temporarily only be received manually are now in the ERP system. Current orders are again entered directly and processed further in a partially automated manner. In consultation with the international sales teams, Hawa prioritizes orders or executes them in partial deliveries, depending on the availability of goods.
For the planning of larger project orders, individual coordination with the sales department is necessary in order to be able to estimate delivery times, says the head of customer service, André Saiu: “This direct communication is important to us in order to support our customers in the best possible way and to offer planning reliability.”
CEO Ezequiel Di Claudio emphasizes that it is thanks to the commitment of all employees and the ongoing dialog with customers and suppliers that Hawa is now once again able to operate in a forward-looking manner.
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